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Hoss Spears

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Thomas Nathaniel "Hoss" Spears, born May 11th, 1923 in Greenbrier, AR,1 was a professional baseball player from 1946-1951.

Biography

Spears was the son of Virgil and Ruth Spears2 and grew up in Faulkner County, AR.3 He later attended Arkansas State Teachers' College in Conway, AR.4

Spears later lived in Lexington, SC with his wife, Marge.5

Spears died on March 28th, 2015. He was buried in St. Stephen's Lutheran Church Cemetery in Lexington, VA.6

Excerpts

"One of the [Arkansas State Teachers College] students is Tom (Hoss) Spears, righthanded pitcher who belongs to Amarillo's Gold Sox and who was one of the best in the Evangeline League last year"7

"Tom Spears of Amarillo struck out four Albuquerque batters in one inning of a West Texas-New Mexico League game, August 5, but allowed eight runs and seven hits in the same stanza. He whiffed Gil Archuleta twice and Paul Halter once, and also threw a third strike past Ron Bowen, who took first when the ball sailed past Catcher Harry Lamprich and subsequently scored."8

"Tom "Hoss" Spears, righthanded pitcher who won 12 and lost 10 games for the 1947 Amarillo Gold Sox, has been sold to Lafeyette of the Class D Evangeline League. It was announced last night by manager Buck Fausette. The Purchase price was not disclosed. Spears had been scheduled to report to the Sox tomorrow after completing his semester at Arkansas State Teachers College of Conway. The temperamental pitcher had a 12-5 record and impressive strikeout total at one state last season, then fell off and didn't win another the rest of the way. He threw one shutout, 8-0 over Pampa, but his earned-run average was only 6.28. Spears was signed by Bob Seeds, Gold Sox president, during a baseball school at Little Rock, Ark., before the 1946 season. He was optioned that year to Natchez of the Evangeline League where he won 7, lost 8, with an earn-run average of 3.97. Jack Atz, Jr., who now heads the Lafayette club, was business manager of Natchez then, and was glad to get his contract again yesterday. He was, of course, a limited-service player, and his disposal is a break for the rookies trying to make the Amarillo staff."9

"LEXINGTON - Thomas Nathaniel Spears , 91, passed away Saturday, March 28, 2015. Born May 11, 1923 in Greenbrier, Arkansas, he was the son of the late Virgil and Ruth Ward Spears. A Celebration of Life service will be held at 2 p.m. Monday, March 30, 2015 at St. Stephen's Lutheran Church with burial to follow in the church cemetery with the Rev. Dr. Pat Riddle and the Rev. Dr. Mark Bredholdt officiating. The family will receive friends following the service in the church social hall. Mr. Spears was a faithful member of St. Stephen's Lutheran Church for 50 years. He served his country in WWII, and retired from the Postal Service. He never met a stranger. Mr. Spears loved reminiscing his days of playing Minor League Baseball. He was an outdoors-man who loved to hunt and fish. He loved his family and friends with a kind, generous heart. Mr. Spears is survived by his wife of 70 years, Marjorie Oxner Spears , children, Mike Spears (Nancy) of Leesville, Pam Steele (Pete) of Lexington, and Elaine Taylor (Lee) of Lexington, grandchildren, Jason Spears (Danielle), Brian Spears (Laura), Sandra Spears , and Ryan Shirley, brothers, Virgil Spears of Dover, Arkansas, and Jim Spears of Atmore, Alabama, along with numerous great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews. The family would like to thank the staff of Agape Hospice House. Memorials may be made to the St. Stephen's Lutheran Church Building Fund."10

Stats

Statistics at Baseball-Reference.com.

2 Log Cabin Democrat, 9/4/2005
3 1940 and 1930 U.S. Census
4 Amarillo News-Globe, 3/23/1947
5 Log Cabin Democrat, 9/4/2005
6 The State (Columbia, SC), 3/20/2015
7 Amarillo News-Globe, 3/23/1947
8 The Sporting News, 8/20/1947
9 Amarillo News-Globe, 4/11/1948
10 The State (Columbia, SC), 3/29/2015